vision blurred and he literally saw red, a crimson haze from his blood pressure spiking before he fought his emotions back under control.
“Romero was taken,” El Rey said with a shrug, goading Cruz by using his first name.
Cruz resisted the urge to jump across the table and strangle the killer. Instead, he forced a humorless smile. “That would have been confusing,” he acceded.
El Rey turned to face Rodriguez. “For the record, I don’t think this is going to work. It’s a spectacularly bad idea, actually.”
Cruz nodded. “On this, we agree.”
Rodriguez looked at his men and then returned El Rey ’s glare. “Everyone’s familiar with your objections. But we don’t have any choice, so we have to make the best of a difficult situation,” he said.
“Why is that, again? Perhaps I’m just slow today, but explain to me again why a lowlife serial killer is a necessary part of this operation. I know he got a pardon, but why am I being saddled with him? Did I miss where he’s got any background in investigations?” Cruz said.
“That’s not your point, it’s mine. My, er, skills, aren’t tracking and finding assassins, gentlemen. As I’ve said before,” El Rey said.
Rodriguez shook his head in frustration. “Can we please stop this? We’re wasting time we don’t have. I understand neither of you wants to be in the same room as the other – you’ve both made that abundantly clear. And I’ve made it clear to you that you have no choice in the matter, so rather than wasting your energy protesting the unchangeable, I suggest you start focusing on catching the German before he can carry out this assassination.”
Cruz started to speak again, but Rodriguez cut him off.
“With all due respect, Capitan , get over your righteous indignation. I’m not asking you two to go shoe shopping together. Your assignment is to work with each other to find the German. The clock is ticking. ‘Carlos’ here is part of the team, representing CISEN, and that’s the end of the matter. I’m familiar with your sentiments, and they’ve been recorded for posterity. But now we have a job to do, and I’d suggest you get with the program. Am I making myself clear?”
Cruz scowled. “Perfectly. That’s why I’m here,” he said.
“Very well. The first order of business is to get you a home base from which you can run the operation. You can’t do so easily from Federales headquarters, so I’d like to propose that you do so from here. I can make a suite of offices available to you...”
“Absolutely not. CISEN is too high-profile. I see nothing wrong with headquarters, except for our friend El ...Carlos. And that’s just too bad. Headquarters is where I work,” Cruz said forcefully.
“If you think I’m going to start commuting to Federales headquarters, you’re out of your mind,” El Rey agreed.
One of the men leaned towards Rodriguez and whispered a few words. A murmured conversation ensued while Cruz and El Rey stared death at each other. Rodriguez straightened and resumed speaking.
“May I suggest a compromise? We have certain facilities at our disposal. Offsite locations where you can work without issue. One is a block of offices downtown. I can arrange to have as many as you need ready by tomorrow.”
Cruz eyed him distrustfully. “There will be a lot of specialized equipment. And security concerns.”
“Make a list of what you need and I’ll arrange for it. I’ll also have a team in place to guard it twenty-four hours a day. It will be accessible round the clock. At your exclusive disposal,” Rodriguez assured him.
“Figure on enough room for two dozen men, minimum, with at least three or four private offices and a large common area for analysts,” Cruz said.
“And state-of-the-art computers and communications gear, I would presume,” Rodriguez said.
“Yes. Do you have some note paper? I can give you preliminary requirements right now.”
Rodriguez snapped his fingers and the man
“Romero was taken,” El Rey said with a shrug, goading Cruz by using his first name.
Cruz resisted the urge to jump across the table and strangle the killer. Instead, he forced a humorless smile. “That would have been confusing,” he acceded.
El Rey turned to face Rodriguez. “For the record, I don’t think this is going to work. It’s a spectacularly bad idea, actually.”
Cruz nodded. “On this, we agree.”
Rodriguez looked at his men and then returned El Rey ’s glare. “Everyone’s familiar with your objections. But we don’t have any choice, so we have to make the best of a difficult situation,” he said.
“Why is that, again? Perhaps I’m just slow today, but explain to me again why a lowlife serial killer is a necessary part of this operation. I know he got a pardon, but why am I being saddled with him? Did I miss where he’s got any background in investigations?” Cruz said.
“That’s not your point, it’s mine. My, er, skills, aren’t tracking and finding assassins, gentlemen. As I’ve said before,” El Rey said.
Rodriguez shook his head in frustration. “Can we please stop this? We’re wasting time we don’t have. I understand neither of you wants to be in the same room as the other – you’ve both made that abundantly clear. And I’ve made it clear to you that you have no choice in the matter, so rather than wasting your energy protesting the unchangeable, I suggest you start focusing on catching the German before he can carry out this assassination.”
Cruz started to speak again, but Rodriguez cut him off.
“With all due respect, Capitan , get over your righteous indignation. I’m not asking you two to go shoe shopping together. Your assignment is to work with each other to find the German. The clock is ticking. ‘Carlos’ here is part of the team, representing CISEN, and that’s the end of the matter. I’m familiar with your sentiments, and they’ve been recorded for posterity. But now we have a job to do, and I’d suggest you get with the program. Am I making myself clear?”
Cruz scowled. “Perfectly. That’s why I’m here,” he said.
“Very well. The first order of business is to get you a home base from which you can run the operation. You can’t do so easily from Federales headquarters, so I’d like to propose that you do so from here. I can make a suite of offices available to you...”
“Absolutely not. CISEN is too high-profile. I see nothing wrong with headquarters, except for our friend El ...Carlos. And that’s just too bad. Headquarters is where I work,” Cruz said forcefully.
“If you think I’m going to start commuting to Federales headquarters, you’re out of your mind,” El Rey agreed.
One of the men leaned towards Rodriguez and whispered a few words. A murmured conversation ensued while Cruz and El Rey stared death at each other. Rodriguez straightened and resumed speaking.
“May I suggest a compromise? We have certain facilities at our disposal. Offsite locations where you can work without issue. One is a block of offices downtown. I can arrange to have as many as you need ready by tomorrow.”
Cruz eyed him distrustfully. “There will be a lot of specialized equipment. And security concerns.”
“Make a list of what you need and I’ll arrange for it. I’ll also have a team in place to guard it twenty-four hours a day. It will be accessible round the clock. At your exclusive disposal,” Rodriguez assured him.
“Figure on enough room for two dozen men, minimum, with at least three or four private offices and a large common area for analysts,” Cruz said.
“And state-of-the-art computers and communications gear, I would presume,” Rodriguez said.
“Yes. Do you have some note paper? I can give you preliminary requirements right now.”
Rodriguez snapped his fingers and the man
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